End of Days can be purchased on Blu-ray individually or as a part of Universal’s “Action Starter Pack,” which includes three movies: Miami Vice, U-571 and End of Days for the retail price of $59.98.

Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Universal Studios Home Entertainment – 123 mins – 1999 – Rated R – 1080p Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40: 1 – DTS-HD Lossless Master 5.1 Audio

In 1999 there were various “Y2K, the world is about to end” movies to exploit the coming of the new millennium, and Arnold Schwarzenegger joined the craze with his ‘save mankind from certain doom’ flick End of Days. By this time Schwarzenegger’s

box office clout was beginning to fizzle, and End of Days didn’t exactly light any sparks. It’s silly and mindless, and doesn’t even have any good Arnold lines. This is one of his last batches of action movies, along with The Sixth Day and Collateral Damage, before he packed it up and became the Governator. End of Days is available on Blu-ray from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, so if you need your Schwarzenegger fix, even a lame one, feel free to proceed.

THE MOVIE

Schwarzenegger plays Jericho Cane, a former New York City cop, who because of his addiction to alcohol, now works as a security specialist. He quickly has to put his love for the bottle aside when he discovers that the big daddy of bad guys, Satan, (Gabriel Byrne) is making a plan to resurface on the Earth and end humanity by impregnating an innocent woman (Robin Tunney). What follows are a series of over the top action scenes, crappy special effects, and clichés galore. Basically, End of Days is like watching a Steven Seagal film with a bigger budget.

The real problem with End of Days is that Schwarzenegger has made with weaker storylines work, such as Commando, but he’s literally phoning it in. The proof is that you can play the drinking game counting how many times you see Schwarzenegger’s body double. How many days did Arnie actually clock in on this film? Even his co-star, Kevin Pollak, who plays his partner in this film seems like he rather be somewhere else and only showed up for the payday. The only person is trying to make it work is Byrne, who plays the devilish (or should I say The Devil) routine like he’s enjoying every minute of it.

Directed by Peter Hyams, who has helmed several action films such as Time Cop and Running Scared, is no stranger to high adrenaline formula movies is desperately trying to keep things moving by tossing in as much bang in as he can. But even with all this something about the film still doesn’t connect. Maybe it’s the whole Terminator vs. Satan thing, but actually that should have made this more appealing.

Another issue is that you never feel any suspense. Come on, if Satan’s plot works all humanity will be over, but there’s never a sense of any immediate danger to the world. As an example from another Schwarzenegger’s film, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, you always feel the threat that if anything where to happen to John Connor, we are screwed. With End of Days, the woman that Schwarzenegger is trying to protect doesn’t seem to have the same value, even though she and the John Connor character both hold the fate of the world in their hands.

End of Days is not the worse action film, but there’s nothing about it that stands out. It attempts to be dark, but then there is so much humor that you lose focus of the threat at hand. As a loud, slick, and explosive Saturday night movie, End of Days is acceptable, but unlike so many of Schwarzenegger’s earlier action films, when this one is over you’ll forget it even happened. And even though it’s roughly a decade later, End of Days feels dated. Overall, if you are a hardcore Schwarzenegger fan and you collect all things Arnold, you’re going to want this. For all others, rent it first and decide if the world will end if you don’t own it.

VIDEO

This is an odd transfer, because even though the film is supposed to be dark, it doesn’t hold up to well in high-definition. This Blu-ray offers a fill 1080p image with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, but it’s incredibly grainy, and being that 80% of the film takes place at night or in dark places, you’re not given much eye candy. The skin tones don’t appear natural, looking very orange-ish, mainly because the actors are hidden in shadows most of the time. Whenever there is a scene involving fire or some explosion, it seems to bleed over into the darker areas leaving a momentary artifact. This transfer is a step up from the standard DVD, but only for sharpness, because the picture quality is not up to par with other titles out there. This image is acceptable, but don’t get your hopes up too high.

AUDIO

The one thing End of Days has going for it is it’s audio mix, offering a DTS-HD Losless Master 5.1 surround track, when the action begins, your neighbors will be banging on the walls for you to turn it down. The film mixes action and horror, so there are many tricks done to make you jump, and for the most part they are effective, but it’s the explosive action that steals the spotlight. The subway train sequence where Schwarzenegger attempts to stop Satan will make you think you’re in the center of the action and does a great job of highlighting all five speakers and the subwoofer. Dialogue is also clear, allowing you to hear all of Arnold’s broken English. Overall, the sound makes the movie worth it.

EXTRAS

The HD DVD version of End of Days offered various bonus features, but none of them have made it over to this Blu-ray release, which is very strange. The only thing that made the leap was the director’s commentary, so if you were expecting more, you’re going to be very disappointed.

Director Peter Hyams offers some on the set tales, including the origins of the script, working with Schwarzenegger, and making a big budget action film. The commentary is not bad, because Hyams has a lot to say, but it won’t change your opinion of the film.

BOTTOM LINE

It’s kind of hard looking at End of Days nearly a decade later, because it’s more laughable than the edgy horror/action film it was attempting to be. Schwarzenegger fans will probably get this Blu-ray no matter what, but with it’s so-so image quality and total lack of bonus features, there’s really no reason to pick this one up unless you live, breathe, need and own everything Schwarzenegger related. Come on Universal, the Governator deserves better than this.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 2.0

Video: 2.5

Sound: 3.0

Extras: 1.5

Bottom Line: 2.5